1832. Mary Anne has spent most of her life lying and stealing to survive—and pretending to be the lady she is not. On her way to Hobart and involved in yet another scheme, her ship founders and she finds herself alone in a settlement on the isolated west coast of Van Diemen's Land.

Lieutenant Luke Rowe is a disgraced officer sent to the wilds to keep the convicts in order. The settlers don't like him, and neither does Mary Anne, or so she tells herself. But Luke saved her from drowning and in his eyes that means she belongs to him.

But is Luke really the man he seems, and is Mary Anne making a grave mistake in trusting him with her heart?